Podium or Pits? It’s Grand Prix POP!

Podium or Pits is Badger’s weekly guide to what’s hot and what’s not in Formula One. Stay tuned for all matters F1, including F1 in New Jersey, catching up with Thomas Enge, an F1 auction, Tamara’s latest news and something about Ken Block…

Now, before you go thinking this is going to be about one of the Channel Islands, and some tax avoidance scheme, it’s not. So don’t worry.

It is, in fact, about the American state of New Jersey and the proposed Grand Prix to be held there in 2013. We always enjoy pieces written about F1 by people in local communities affected by the racing, so we do thoroughly encourage you to check it out.

As an incentive, there’s a nice little description of David Coulthard in there too.

Let’s catch up with Thomas Enge, shall we? – It’s not a great time to be Thomas Enge. After being the only F1 driver ever to fail a drugs test, he’s now contrived to fail another one and be suspended from motorsport.

Any sportsperson who fails a drugs test is naturally inclined to protest their innocence, but do we believe old Tommy E?

Since his first positive test, he says he’s been “paranoid” about accidentally allowing banned substances into his system.

“This is a shock, as I would never knowingly take any banned substance. I have suffered from long term health problems which is why I recently asked the FIA for an exemption to use drugs that are on the list of prohibited substances. Now I need to consult with expert doctors as to how this situation has occurred.”

Thumbs up? Or thumbs down?

Who a) reads POP and b) has enough money for this? – That’s right, it’s time for the F1 Party. And it’s for charity too. Goodness, what next?

As is often the case at these shindigs, you can bid for any number of lots. A lot (see what we did there?!) are your standard F1 giveaways – meeting drivers, signed bits of F1 tat etc etc – but there are also some more “unusual” things up for grabs:

– A private lunch with boy band of the moment, JLS.
– Backstage studio tour of This Morning at ITV Studios.
– Photoshoot with renowned celebrity photographer, Alan Strutt, at his studio. Includes hair and make-up by artist to the stars, Gary Cockerill, and style consultation with Tamara Ecclestone’s personal stylist, Lucy Packman.
– Four tickets to see Olly Murs in any one of his UK concerts in 2013, including backstage ‘meet and greet’ and a personalized signed programme for each guest.
– Personal jeans consultation with Donna Ida Thornton plus a pair of jeans.

This isn’t really POP’s thing, but it seems like a lot of people like it (including our esteemed editor) – A lot of people appear to enjoy videos of Ken Block throwing cars around in various wanton stylings. Below are some overly complicated slides about it. Enjoy.

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